# Idioms/Proverbs/Sayings That Don't Make Sense **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243 "2013-10-25T20:47:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/21 "2013-10-26T00:20:00Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > “You’ve made your bed, now you’re going to have to lie in it”. > > Most people lie in an unmade or turned-down bed, no? > [@Sam\_I\_Am](#): > > I’m guessing it’s origins predate mattresses bought at the store… Yeah. If you don’t get the straw packed into the mattress properly, it can poke you through the ticking. > [@Superhal](#): > > . . . If the grass is greener on the other side, water your damn grass. The grass is always greener over the septic tank. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/22 "2013-10-26T07:52:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Preposterous. (Look it up, if you want, etymol.) This just generically describes something before it became posterous. > [@TriPolar](#): > > **You can’t have your cake and eat it too.** > > I don’t know how you can eat it if you don’t have it. But if you like to paddle out on the Arctic Ocean in a little paddle boat, be sure to dress very warmly, because you can’t use a candle (or Sterno or whatever) to keep your little boat warm – it will catch fire and sink. You can’t have your kayak and heat it too. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/23 "2013-10-26T08:06:16Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > One that always bugs me: “I could care less” to mean “I don’t care”. The phrase was originally, “I **couldn’t** care less.” This actually does make sense. For some reason, a lot of people have dropped the “n’t,” which makes it sound nonsensical. One explanation I’ve heard is that people who say, “I could care less” are being sarcastic. I don’t really buy this - I just think a lot of people don’t think about what they’re saying. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/24 "2013-10-26T09:47:50Z")
“Like two peas in a pod” = cunnigulus: to be split and eaten. “Raining cats and dogs”= some animal peed on me OR those damn kids are throwing cats/dogs on the roof again. “Hit the sack”= training for the Olympic hacky-sack team. “Like two hens in the henhouse”= sleep all the time and wake up to take a dump. “Having a chip on your shoulder” = tell Chip to get off. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/25 "2013-10-26T12:02:32Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The phrase was originally, “I **couldn’t** care less.” This actually does make sense. For some reason, a lot of people have dropped the “n’t,” which makes it sound nonsensical. One explanation I’ve heard is that people who say, “I could care less” are being sarcastic. I don’t really buy this - I just think a lot of people don’t think about what they’re saying. I see both versions as, basically, making sense. “I couldn’t care less”, is obvious. “I could care less” might be construed as “I suppose I could – just – care less about this issue, than I actually do; but it would be very little less.” (Sarcasm, as mentioned above?) I do feel that “I could care less” has a little more of a contemptuous “bite” to it, than “I couldn’t…” I remember a long discussion about “couldn’t care less,” and “could…” ditto, on a discussion board devoted to English-language matters. Consensus of opinion reached, was that “could care less” is what students of language usage call a “sturdy indefensible”: an expression which is at least to some degree wrong / nonsensical / inaccurate, but which many people persist in using, regardless. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/26 "2013-10-26T13:04:20Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Why isn’t spilt milk worth crying over? What if you live in Ethiopia? I’ve always understood the not-crying-over-spilt-milk thing, as acknowledging that it’s only human and natural to be upset when something goes wrong; but if the misfortune (as with spilt miilk) is irreversible and un-recoverable, getting upset does not achieve anything or make the situation any better – it’s wiser to address something which you _can_ improve. A kind-of-related expression I’ve only encountered once, which I like but by which I’m rather bemused – I understand that it’s an Australianism – “_You’d_ whinge if your arse was on fire.” I came across it in someone’s World War 2 memoirs. There was a military unit whose leader was Australian, but all the guys under him were British. The leader was fond of this expression, and came out with it to discourage complaining – general implication was, “you’re always complaining – you’d complain if life were perfect in every way”. The guys’ underlings told him that they found the expression a rather foolish one: if one’s arse is on fire, surely that is a truly distressing situation, giving one a very good reason for whinging. I agree with their logic here. Maybe you have to be an Aussie for the saying to make sense… ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/27 "2013-10-26T13:54:44Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I remember a long discussion about “couldn’t care less,” and “could…” ditto, on a discussion board devoted to English-language matters. Consensus of opinion reached, was that “could care less” is what students of language usage call a “sturdy indefensible”: an expression which is at least to some degree wrong / nonsensical / inaccurate, but which many people persist in using, regardless. To which I’ll add one point I’ve never seen in other discussions of this idiom: sound trumps sense. It’s hard to say “I couldn’t care less” without sounding **earnest!** and **sincere**! (Like a society matron in a Three Stooges film saying “Why, I’ve NEVER been so INSULTED in my LIFE!”.) IOW, exactly the wrong tone for conveying blase nonchalance. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/28 "2013-10-26T17:23:58Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > To which I’ll add one point I’ve never seen in other discussions of this idiom: sound trumps sense. It’s hard to say “I couldn’t care less” without sounding **earnest!** and **sincere**! (Like a society matron in a Three Stooges film saying “Why, I’ve NEVER been so INSULTED in my LIFE!”.) IOW, exactly the wrong tone for conveying blase nonchalance. I see where you’re coming from here – the “prissiness factor” with the “couldn’t” version; and I concur that the “could” version, feels more hard-hitting. I’ve always said “I couldn’t care less”, and will continue to do so; consciously changing to the other usage at my fairly late time of life would feel odd and wrong, and habit would probably be difficult to overcome. I do, though, see the “upside” of the other version. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/29 "2013-10-26T18:18:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “I’m head over heels for her!” > > So what? I’m head over heels for most people. Along the same lines, someone who takes a tumble is tits over ass. If it’s a bad enough fall wouldn’t you be ass over tits? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/30 "2013-10-26T18:36:48Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The phrase was originally, “I **couldn’t** care less.” This actually does make sense. For some reason, a lot of people have dropped the “n’t,” which makes it sound nonsensical. One explanation I’ve heard is that people who say, “I could care less” are being sarcastic. I don’t really buy this - I just think a lot of people don’t think about what they’re saying. It’s negation by association. The negatory aspect of not gets applied to the phrase as a whole. For one reason or another the not gets dropped but no one minds because everyone knows it still means that they don’t care. We see the same thing happen with “I could/couldn’t give a damn.” It’s an idiomatic phrase and it doesn’t _have_ to make sense. After all, I’ve never actually seen a rain that really could be characterized as animal-like but 'raining cats and dogs" still gets across the idea. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/31 "2013-10-26T18:38:22Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’ve always taken this to mean “You can’t eat your cake and still have it (sitting there uneaten).” That is you can either have uneaten cake, or you can eat the cake, but not both. > Roddy Cakes aren’t that expensive. Buy two; have one and eat t’other. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/32 "2013-10-26T18:44:03Z")
You’d complain if they hung you with a new rope. I get what it means but a strange way to express it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/33 "2013-10-26T23:08:30Z")
“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” I don’t know many rich people with horses. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” It’s cheaper to just throw rocks at him. “A watched pot never boils.” An unwatched pot causes a huge mess. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.” You should lay off the sauce if pots are talking. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/34 "2013-10-26T23:53:14Z")
“Still waters run deep.” Actually, they don’t run at all… they’re _still._ A personal bugaboo of mine, having been raised in California and edumacated in the ways of the Gold Rush, is the common usage of “panning out” to mean “the plan has succeeded,” whereas the way I was taught, “panning out” meant you had taken all the gold out of your claim and now you had to go find a new one, which could (a) fail and you starve to death, (b) get you shot by somebody who thinks you’re trying to rustle his claim, or © get you eaten by a mountain lion, so “panning out” means “probably dying soon”, i.e., not a particularly welcome outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/35 "2013-10-27T04:26:17Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > . . . the way I was taught, “panning out” meant you had taken all the gold out of your claim. . . Panning was a way of testing a stream for gold. Once gold was discovered, they would use other methods to get the rest of the gold, like sluice mining. A pan didn’t require any set-up, so a miner could go from place to place to look for gold quickly. Once a spot was found that had “panned out,” he could make a claim, set up his equipment and go to work. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/36 "2013-10-27T09:46:46Z")
> [@Brains on the Half Shell](#): > > You’d complain if they hung you with a new rope. > > I get what it means but a strange way to express it. I’ve seen it suggested about this one, that it’s not quite what it seems, and actually borders on nonsense – rather like the Aussie-ism “You’d complain if your arse was on fire”, which I cited earlier. The saying as stands, would seem to suggest that it’s a kind of honour and compliment to the offender, to hang him with a new rope. It turns out, though, that in the business of hangmanship – being hanged with a new rope is more painful for the victim, than being hanged with a well-worn, more comfortable older rope. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/37 "2013-10-27T17:47:10Z")
I’ve recently learned that “Don’t shit where you eat” means to not fuck someone you work with. How or why this came about is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/38 "2013-10-27T18:21:41Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > I’ve recently learned that “Don’t shit where you eat” means to not fuck someone you work with. > > How or why this came about is beyond me. Because that’s a specific example of a more general concept of not performing a particular action in a particular environment when that is likely to have financial or other consequences. It’s most commonly used about romantic/sexual relationships, but I’ve also heard it used when people running side businesses cheat their coworkers/neighbors/relatives or when people act up at a business and end up losing a discount they previously enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/39 "2013-10-27T18:42:30Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Look at what the cat dragged in should mean you stink like something that has been dead at least a week… That is what it means. Or some similarly disheveled or sloppy appearance. > [@](#): > > Why isn’t spilt milk worth crying over? What if you live in Ethiopia? It may be _worth_ crying over, but the phrase is “It’s _no use_ crying…” You can cry all you want, but it’s not useful. > [@Superhal](#): > > “Stuck between a rock and a hard place” vs “give me a long enough lever and a firm place to stand and I can move the world.” The rock shouldn’t be that hard to move. But then you wouldn’t be stuck. Being stuck is a necessary part of the phrase. “I’m standing near a rock and a hard place” isn’t very meaningful. > [@](#): > > “Like a cat on a hot tin roof” should mean “he fell down.” A cat on a hot roof would pick up one paw because it burns, but then the other, then another, and it’d look like he was jumping quickly from paw to paw. So the phrase means “jumpy.” What’s the problem? > [@](#): > > “Bringing a knife to a gun fight” is especially handy when the ammo is gone, and was the de facto method of warfare during the flintlock period. After you fired once, you went in with your bayonets. But then you’d be in a knife fight, not a gun fight. I think it’s clear that the person not only brought a knife but failed to bring a gun. He doesn’t have both. > [@Superhal](#): > > “Raining cats and dogs”= some animal peed on me OR those damn kids are throwing cats/dogs on the roof again. > [@Innards Snacker](#): > > After all, I’ve never actually seen a rain that really could be characterized as animal-like but 'raining cats and dogs" still gets across the idea. The kids aren’t throwing them up there; the animals are just going up there on their own. Then when it rains hard, they lose their footing and get washed off the roofs. So you get a bunch of water off the rooftops and the occasional stray animal. > [@vontsira](#): > > “_You’d_ whinge if your arse was on fire.” if one’s arse is on fire, surely that is a truly distressing situation, giving one a very good reason for whinging. The implication is that the person _only_ whines, as opposed to doing something about the problem. He’s just standing there, letting his ass burn. The commander was telling his troops to quit whining and start fixing. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243/40 "2013-10-28T08:04:51Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > _You’d_ whinge if your arse was on fire: if one’s arse is on fire, surely that is a truly distressing situation, giving one a very good reason for whinging. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > The implication is that the person _only_ whines, as opposed to doing something about the problem. He’s just standing there, letting his ass burn. The commander was telling his troops to quit whining and start fixing. I get your drift, I think… I still feel that in the way the guy put it, it sounds weird, and not altogether rational. In the memoir, his subordinates told him that his pet phrase sounded silly; thereafter, he carried on frequently using it, only with the addition: “But that, they tell me, is the time to whinge.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idioms-proverbs-sayings-that-dont-make-sense/672243.md?page=3)